It’s a new month, and I forgot. I spent all of January waiting for it to be over, or at least waiting to feel different, and then the calendar turned a page and I completely missed it. Maybe because I don’t have a calendar. But I do have that paper agenda on my desk, so maybe that tells you how well I’m doing with sticking to a schedule right now. And maybe also that days of the week and dates are generally arbitrary when you kind of work for yourself and everything is made up.
The last few weeks have held a lot of change for me — I moved out of a one bedroom condo in the downtown core, put all my belongings into storage, and moved into a sublet in the west end of Toronto with a loosey-goosey timeline of when I might leave. I’m heading to BC at the end of the month to be near for the much-anticipated arrival of my nephew, and see what kind of person I feel like in Vancouver. (Also taking meetings with local Vancouver people who run events that connect people, spaces that connect people, and taking coffee shop with great Wifi connection and nice afternoon light recommendations).
There has been some fast-moving development in the book publishing department of my world (was this rude to drop a little nugget about? Possibly. I’ve always been like I’m NoT gOiNg To Be ThAt PeRsOn WhO dRoPs ElUsIvE HiNts and yet HERE I AM.) In the frenzy of Go-Time I am digging into finding the more concrete, businessy words that describe who I am, what I write, what this project is, and where I want to take it, and for my little observer heart (and my keep things slightly undefined vibe, my desire to sit in the murkiness, the sort of like that but not like that, and the please don’t put a bow on ANYTHING so help me God), all this concise business stuff is a little scary and daunting. Not to mention answering the question, “And why are you the right person to convey the message of this book?” Thank you for inviting my imposter syndrome to the table.
There is a sigh of relief that I made it through January. Somewhere in those blurry, achey, dark weeks, I remembered what this season is supposed to be about: slowing down, going inward, seeking comfort, going towards the ease. And now in my professional life I am being shot out of a cannon. Or maybe more accurately, I am being asked to crawl into the cannon. Pack in tightly. Tuck my head. So I’m asking myself how I can incorporate ease and comfort and staying insular, even here in the frenzy of preparation and nerves and change and upheaval and nomad living I find myself in once again.
Ways To Connect This Month
NEW — Introducing Office Hours
Mentorship, feedback, and encouragement are pillars to growth in the craft of writing — sign up for this personalized experience to get fresh eyes on your work, talk through current roadblocks in your practice, and receive constructive critique around your style, themes, and message.
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NEW - Introducing Monday Prompts
Start the week with an anchored practice of presence; starting Monday, February 6th, I’ll be sending out a weekly email with a poem, reflection, and writing prompt for you. February’s theme: Meditations on closeness.
(This will automatically be sent out to Paid Substack Subscribers — you can update your account from the top right hand menu under “Manage Subscription”)
The Collective Conversation: Tuesday, February 21st
Theme: Intimacy These Days
7pm EST on Zoom
(Free for Substack Founding Members!)
Poetry Club: Tuesday, February 28th
Theme: Easy To Love
7pm EST on Zoom
(Free for Paid Substack Subscribers!)
Keeping me company
Good music for writing.
Are you writing a book proposal? This outline has been my bible over the last few weeks for overhauling a previously shaky word document.
Just started this book by Clint Smith and I’m learning so much.
Also ordered Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems To Open Your World and I can’t wait to dive in.
Thanks for being here, sending love to wherever you find yourself on this first week of a new month of a new year that might feel different and might feel the same.
xo jess.
Welcome to Club Storage Unit, Jess! It is humbling and odd and messy and freeing and many different adjectives. Also, very excited about the new offerings, and please tease us with publishing hints anytime.